They would ask me what actors I saw in the roles. I would tell them, and they’d say “Oh that’s interesting.” And that would be the end of it.
--Elmore Leonard, in 2000, on the extent of his input for Hollywood's adaptation of his novels

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Yona Zeldis McDonough's "The House on Primrose Pond"

Yona Zeldis McDonough is the author of novels such as A Wedding in Great Neck and You Were Meant for Me as well as dozens of books for children. She is the editor of and a contributor to The Barbie Chronicles: A Living Doll Turns Forty, as well as All the Available Light: A Marilyn Monroe Reader.

You can’t imagine how much fun it is to imagine your book brought to life as a movie. I do it all the time, and so do most of my writer friends. Of course I played this little game with my latest novel, The House on Primrose Pond. Julia Roberts, whose relaxed, versatile manner on the screen is always engaging, could easily play the protagonist, Susannah Gilmore. Reese Witherspoon, whose plucky charm manages to light up any vehicle she’s in, is another contender; both of these women would bring Susannah admirably to life. Russell Brand—those brows, could play the male lead, Corbin Bailey! That penetrating gaze!—but he’d have to lose the beard and trim his hair. And I see the ethereal and lovely Diane Keaton as Alice—she has the necessary strength, dignity and poise the role would require.

“Compared to a novel, a film is like an economy pizza where there are no olives, no ham, no anchovies, no mushrooms, and all you’ve got is the dough.”
--Louis de Bernières, author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin